Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A late 15th/early 16th century gold seal ring, the oval-shaped bezel engraved with a squirrel sitting upright facing to the right, its front paws holding an acorn to its mouth, enclosed within a border of acorn-shaped grooves, the outer hoop of ropetwist design, the inner hoop inscribed beneath the bezel in black letter inscription ‘* god * help *’, diameter 24mm. £1,200-£1,400

Provenance: This ring was found in September 2019 in a ploughed field at a depth of 5 inches, using a Minelab Equinox 800 metal detector, at Funtington, West Sussex, and is recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database ref: SUSS-E75D97 and has subsequently been disclaimed.

A squirrel is commonly used on Medieval seal matrices with the inscription “I crack nuts”.
St Mary’s Church, Funtington, dating from the 12th century, is located close to the find spot.